sweetwater@uci.net wrote:
Finishing up my Merit 1/200 scale CV-8,,, About to do the rigging, incl signal halyards. Does ANYONE know what her Flag Hoist/Call Sign was? Even NavSource shows no call sign. CV-12 is no problem, but I cannot find the hoist for CV-8,,
This model will be displayed in my VFW post's WWII "museum", so I don't want to get this wrong. I'm getting enough "flak" over building a "bird farm" instead of one of my old "tin cans" without messing this up. Thanks in advance for any help you can give this 77 year old destroyer sailor/modeler..... Sweetwater Jack
Hi Sweetwater Jack,
I think what you are after does not exist. The radio sign/flag hoist codes appear on NavSource only for carriers that survived 1942, meaning they were not yet in use during Hornet CV-8's life. Saratoga, Ranger and Enterprise all have them because they were still around for the full war after 1942's losses. Langley, Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp and Hornet do not have any listed because all were lost before this code system was put into use.
During the time she lived through, mid-1942, Hornet's radio code was "Blue Base." I don't know if she hoisted any flags, however. The color base code seems to have come into use just prior to Midway.
(Yorktown was initially "Scarlet Base", but later, Saratoga became "Scarlet Base", Enterprise was "Red Base" and also later, "Reaper Base", Wasp was "Green Base." Lexington seems to have been lost prior to the color code system. The base codes seem to tie in to the FDO aboard, not just the ship itself, as Black Base was aboard cruiser Chicago and Purple Base was aboard a transport, Neville. The last two were the location of the FDO's controlling the fight.